He contracted polio in childhood, and largely recovered, but the illness left him with minor disabilities, for the rest of his life.

[3] Upon returning from the war, he began to volunteer for Bill Frick and Phil Walters' famed Frick-Tappett circle-track racing team.

[9] Cole returned to Prescott in June 1948 and recorded the fastest time in his class,[10] a feat he would repeat at the July meeting.

Bridgehampton founder Bruce Stevenson recalled that "Tommy Cole was well known to all as a gentleman... charmingly forgetful of his passport, his wallet, his helmet and the unimportant details of daily life.

But in a thrilling exhibition of driving skill, he piloted the Jaguar to second place using only one hand on the controls—the other was occupied holding the battery in position!"

[16][17] Cole's ability soon exceeded the potential of the Jaguar and he approached Bill Frick, of Frick-Tappet Racing, to see if the car could accommodate a 331 cu in (5.4 L) Cadillac engine.

The Cadillac-Allard J2, or Cad-Allard, fused a lightweight chassis and modern suspension system with a large powerplant, and would achieve considerable international success.

[4][18] In May, he won the heat race for the Heart Trophy at Suffolk County Airport and led the feature, but suffered a cracked rear wheel and finished second behind Briggs Cunningham.

[27] In September, he returned to the Watkins Glen Grand Prix; he slid off track from pole but Erwin Goldschmidt won in a Cad-Allard.

[28][29] Cole partnered with Goldschmidt for the inaugural Sebring 6 Hours in December;[30] the latter wrote to Motor Sport hailing the Cad-Allard as one of the greatest sportscars of 1950, even above the Jaguar XK120 that had been so successful on the Continent.

His friend and racing patron, John Perona, offered him a Chrysler Hemi powered Allard for the 1951 Buenos Aires Grand Prix.

[38] In March 1952, Cole took second place in the Vero Beach 12 Hour Endurance Road Race.

He took part in the Daily Mail International Festival at the Boreham Circuit, finishing fifth in the S+2.0 race despite fading brakes.

[42][43] A fortnight later, he partnered Graham Whitehead in the inaugural Goodwood Nine Hours, finishing second in a race of high attrition despite again suffering fading brakes.

[1][4] He entered the 1953 Mille Miglia in April and, despite having never driven the 1,000 mile course before, finished fourth with Swiss navigator Mario Vandelli after a steady, controlled drive.

[66] On 13 June 1953, Cole started his fourth Le Mans in his 340 MM, this time co-driven by Luigi Chinetti.

Cole began a charge, unusual for this phase of the race and for the conditions, and was catching the fifth-placed car of Peter Whitehead by 10 to 20 seconds per lap.

[3] Born a British citizen, Cole had applied for U.S. citizenship and that process was still underway at the time of his death.